The present disclosure relates to a power charging apparatus and a battery apparatus capable of charging a battery cell with power in a non-contact scheme.
In general, a portable electronic device, such as a mobile communications terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like, has a rechargeable battery embedded therein in order to provide power to internal circuits of the portable electronic device.
In order to charge the secondary battery with power, a separate charging apparatus converting input alternating current (AC) power into power having an appropriate voltage level and supplying the converted power having the voltage level to the portable electronic device is required. Typically, the charging apparatus and the battery include separate contact terminals formed on outer portions thereof, respectively, such that the charging apparatus and the battery may be electrically connected to one another by connecting the respective contact terminals thereof to one another.
However, in a case in which the contact terminals thereof protrude outwardly, as described above, the contact terminals may not be aesthetically pleasing, in terms of appearance, and may be contaminated with external foreign materials, such that a contact state therebetween may be easily degraded. In addition, in a case in which the battery is short-circuited or exposed to moisture due to user carelessness, energy charged therein may easily be lost.
In order to solve such problems of the above-mentioned contact-type power charging scheme, as disclosed in the following Related Art Document, a non-contact type power charging apparatus charging the battery in a non-contact scheme has been proposed.
As described in the Related Art Document, however, the non-contact type power charging apparatus typically includes a power transmitting apparatus having a primary coil installed therein, and performs a non-contact type power charging operation in a state in which the battery or an electronic device having the battery mounted therein is placed on an upper surface of a power charging pad. Here, a secondary coil for non-contact type power charging is embedded within a power receiving apparatus, and such a power receiving apparatus having the battery mounted therein may correspond to a mobile communications terminal, a PDA, or the like.
However, the non-contact type power charging apparatus described above may be problematic, in that charging efficiency may be significantly decreased or charging may not be effectively performed due to characteristics of an electromagnetic induction phenomenon, in a case in which the target electronic device for charging is spaced apart from a central portion of an electrode having high magnetic flux density.
In addition, although the electronic device is appropriately placed on the central portion of the electrode having high magnetic flux density, in a case in which a position thereof is varied from the central portion due to vibrations or an external impact thereto, charging efficiency may be likewise decreased.
Further, descriptions pertaining to power uniformly charged among a plurality of battery cells in a battery apparatus in a case of supplying power thereto in the non-contact scheme are not disclosed in the non-contact type power charging apparatus disclosed in the related art document.